Colombian hip-hop fusion group ChocQuibTown use their rise to international acclaim as a platform to speak out on behalf of Afro-Latinos.
The trio, who are from the town of Quibdo in the Choco department on Colombia’s Pacific coast, come from a marginalized but proud sector of Colombian society – Afro-Colombians, as they explained in an interview with Cuentame, a non-profit organization dedicated to uniting Latin voices and strengthening the Latino community,
“Music from the Pacific coast is sort of lost among the things people generally associate with Colombia – cocaine, coffee, salsa, cumbia – they don’t know much about what we call ‘the Africa inside Colombia,'” band member Tostao explained to Cuentame. “You turn on the TV in Colombia and you don’t see many Afro-Colombians. We are narrating a Colombia that does not appear in the mass media.”
ChocQuibTown won a Latin Grammy for their song “De donde vengo yo” in 2010 and was nominated but did not win the Grammy for Best Latin Alternative Album. They did get a chance to perform their hit “De donde vengo yo,” (Where I Come From) at the Grammys and represent their Afro-Colombian roots to a global audience.